Help! Dogs attacked me and ACS is doing nothing! (San Antonio: homeowners insurance, lawyer)

[y2payton]

I need your help, San Antonio. On Sunday morning, my husband and I were walking our dogs on leashes when we were attacked by 3 rottweilers. They broke thru their owners 6 ft tall wooden fence (busted right thru the planks) as we were walking by. They attacked us and our dogs and no matter how many times we kicked them and screamed they would not stop. Luckily some people stopped and with their help we were able to scare the dogs away. I ended getting puntures on my thigh while 2 of my dogs were seriously injured, 1 needing stitches and the other required 2 surgeries.

I did file a police report and animal control "quarantined" 2 of the 3 dogs but I was told yesterday that they will be returned to the owner after 10 days if they didn't have rabies. WTF? What about the fact that they mauled us and ripped my dogs hindquarters to bits? Let me also point out that these people live directly across from an elementary school and children have to walk by their yard every day. What more can I do? I don't want these dogs returned to their owners, but ACS is saying they can't put them down. Help!

[rd2007]

No need to put the dogs down, but might be a good idea for the owners.. It's always the irresponsible owners fault and never the dogs.
I would personally take it up with the owner and give them the option to pay for everything before you haul them into court and make them regret not working it out with you...

[TexasRedneck]

Call the KENS Troubleshooters, but yeah - they get a "first bite" pass, IIRC. However, you ALSO have the right to pursue them civilly - might be worth discussing w/an attorney, or possibly via small claims court.

I'm NOT a "sue 'em all" type - but in situations like this, yeah - you need to get their attention. What did the owners say about all this? Have you asked them for their homeowners' insurance information? If it happened as you described, it would appear that you definitely have an actionable cause.

[Chalie Brown]

I think any time a dog seriously injures a person or another dog that wasn't trespassing, it should be put down. just how I feel about it. Don't care if no one agrees with me.

If that had happened to me, those animals would be in bad-doggy hell right now.

[y2payton]

If ACS will give the dogs to a rescue group, or someone who is responsible, I'm fine with them not being put down. I'm an animal lover and I do agree that it is the owners fault as they are responisble for their dogs. I just don't want them being returned to these particular people as they leave their dogs outside all day and none of them are spayed/neutered and they're only 6 months old and they've already attacked. I know if they get returned nothing will change and next time it will be worse. I've also contacted an attorney because they are not taking responisibility for what happened. They are being very un-cooperative, so they leave us no choice but to sue them. Luckily, I have about 6 eyewitnesses who came to our rescue and can attest to my story. I just am mad that ACS is being so irresponsible as to return them. If they attack a kid and kills them, the dogs will be put down then, but it'll be too late.

[Paul56]

Originally Posted by y2payton

I need your help, San Antonio. On Sunday morning, my husband and I were walking our dogs on leashes when we were attacked by 3 rottweilers. They broke thru their owners 6 ft tall wooden fence (busted right thru the planks) as we were walking by. They attacked us and our dogs and no matter how many times we kicked them and screamed they would not stop. Luckily some people stopped and with their help we were able to scare the dogs away. I ended getting puntures on my thigh while 2 of my dogs were seriously injured, 1 needing stitches and the other required 2 surgeries.

I did file a police report and animal control "quarantined" 2 of the 3 dogs but I was told yesterday that they will be returned to the owner after 10 days if they didn't have rabies. WTF? What about the fact that they mauled us and ripped my dogs hindquarters to bits? Let me also point out that these people live directly across from an elementary school and children have to walk by their yard every day. What more can I do? I don't want these dogs returned to their owners, but ACS is saying they can't put them down. Help!

Wow.

Consult with a lawyer right away. You will need to pursue the legal
side on your own... and in this case you should.

Did the dogs owner get involved at all while or after the attack?
Did they say anything to you?

Unfortunately while the physical injuries will heal the emotional side of
this situation will stay with you for a long time and will affect your life.

I regularly go for walks by an area with the same situation as what you
came across... elementary school across the street from homes one of
which has a dog in the yard with a small screened hole cut at the bottom
of the fence so the dog can peek through. You can see on the ground
where the dog has been harassing those who pass by with barking and
growling... experienced it myself.

Makes me nervous enough to consider purchasing a cane at Walmart
and going for my walks with that... even though I don't need a cane
it would provide me with something to defend myself in case this animal
gets through the fence one day.

[TexasRedneck]

Originally Posted by Chalie Brown

I think any time a dog seriously injures a person or another dog that wasn't trespassing, it should be put down. just how I feel about it. Don't care if no one agrees with me.

If that had happened to me, those animals would be in bad-doggy hell right now.

Oh, don't get me wrong - I agree with ya. As a kid growing up, Dad loved his dogs - but if they bit another animal or human (unless in the course of their "duties"), they were put down. He said that once they had that "taste", they'd go back for it again. Now, a nip - that was the "learning moment" for discipline - but a full-on attack, yeah - it was doggie heaven on the spot.

[doss1]

A neighbor got sued for a bee nest that stung some little chihuahua.

[Hedgehog_Mom]

I do think you need to talk to the owners of the dogs that attacked you, and get their homeowners insurance information. If you don't think you can talk to them without major drama, call your homeowners insurance and see if they can help you get the info without dealing with the people.

My sister got attacked by a neighbor's dog when we were kids. The neighbor's teen daughter was babysitting us, and she wanted to talk on the phone, so she locked us in her back yard with the dog. I tried to fight it off, but it outweighed both of us and it got my sister. It was pretty bad...they had to bring in a plastic surgeon and my sister had 300 stitches in her face, to reattach her cheek to her jaw, put her nose back where it belonged, close her eyelid, a gash in her throat, etc. My parents were so busy dealing with the medical end of things that they didn't even think of calling the police, but I guess the ER did, because the next morning the police came to our house and took a report. The neighbor's homeowner's insurance paid my sister's medical bills, and offered my parents $1000 as a settlement. Personally, I would have gotten a lawyer.

Anyhow, animal control couldn't do anything about the dog other than quarantine it. A couple of months after it bit my sister, a two-year-old who lived next door to the dog climbed the fence, and they had the same plastic surgeon. At that point, several neighbors got together and knocked on the dog owner's door and said they would go with the dog owner to have the dog put down, or they'd put the dog down themselves.

There are a lot of dogs where I live now, and most of the people I see out walking carry a baseball bat or a big stick. I have an expandable baton that I carry in my bike bag when my daughter and I are out riding. You can also get a spray that's supposed to work on dogs Amazon.com: Mace Brand Muzzle Dog Repellent Spray: Sports & Outdoors I've seen it at the sporting goods stores before.

[Azure110]

When I used to ride my road bicycle, dogs and cars were my top two main safety concerns.

The southside is the worse with loose dogs. Also a lot of abandoned wild dogs out on highway 16 towards Poteet.

There are so many irresponsible dog owners in this city. Ugh.